Boston had been rolling—six straight wins, sitting pretty in second place in the East—but Detroit just snapped them back to reality. What should have been a routine victory turned into a humbling blowout loss, and it wasn’t just the defeat that had fans fuming. Joe Mazzulla waving the white flag early? That’s what really set people off.

Rather than fighting to the end, the Celtics’ head coach essentially threw in the towel before the final whistle. And let’s just say, the hoop community was not impressed with that mindset.

In a shocking upset, the Pistons dominated the C’s from the get-go and gained an 11-point lead heading into the final quarter. But many fans still had hope that the reigning champions could make a comeback and come out with a win. However, the situation only got worse as Cade Cunningham and Co. kept extending their lead. With nearly six minutes remaining on the clock, Mazzulla had seen enough and surprisingly abandoned the comeback attempt, emptying his bench.

Mazzulla gave his stars one last shot to spark some life into the game, but when they came up empty, he made the controversial call to wave the white flag. With the starters benched, the Pistons kept their foot on the gas, sealing a dominant 20-point victory.

Safe to say, Celtics fans weren’t happy watching their team roll over without a fight.

Well, Jayson Tatum played his part as he scored 27 points and six rebounds. But no other teammate supported him enough to get the team out of this slump. The second highest scorers were Derrick White and Payton Pritchard, tied at eighteen points. Of course, the Celtics were missing their second superstar, Jaylen Brown, who was out with a bone bruise in his left thigh. That left the team without a consistent 20+ point scorer who is also an elite defender. Mazzulla’s squad had enough depth to compensate for his absence and secure the win without him. However, this only added to the fans’ frustration as they watched the head coach seemingly give up early.

NBA World urges the Celtics to “Fire Joe Mazzulla” after Shocking decision against Pistons

Once Joe emptied his bench instead of trying to muscle a comeback, social media flooded with calls against him, like “Not even down 20 with half a quarter left and Joe Mazzulla getting a whole G League unit ready to sub in. This is not a f—— winning coach” and “Joe Mazzulla is checking out with over 6 minutes to go? Well okay then.”

In today’s era of three-pointers, its not uncommon for a team to make double-digit comebacks in crunch time. Especially for a high-volume shooting team like the Celtics. So, the fans wanted to see Mazzulla fight till the final whistle instead of surrendering with half a quarter to go. Some fuming fans even urged the Celtics to “Fire Joe Mazzulla” claiming “If ur gonna give up on ur team then sit the f— down and stop coaching Joe Mazzulla.”

One netizen even revealed his sheer hatred toward the head coach, “I can’t even put into words how much I hate Joe Mazzulla.” But despite the backlash, it is unlikely that Mazzulla will lose his job anytime soon. That’s because he has led the Celtics to immense success during his tenure, winning a title last year and being one of the top ranked teams this season. Chances are that tonight was just a minor bump in their road and Mazzulla’s team will make a comeback when they return to the hardwood on Friday against the top-seeded Cavaliers. What are your thoughts about Joe’s decision?